This Grilled Chicken Salad recipe is a creamy, crunchy and refreshing delight. Served on a croissant, it's loaded with grilled chicken, peanuts, grapes, avocado and so many more ingredients all coated with mayonnaise. It's an incredible meal for those warm weather days that are on the horizon.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Green onions get used two ways. Grilling the white and light-green parts until charred while mincing the dark green raw gives the chicken salad both a smoky sweetness and a fresh bite in the same bowl.
- Pounding the chicken to even thickness first. Flattening the thick side of the breast under a zip-top bag means the whole piece grills at the same rate, so you're not left with a dry thin end and an undercooked thick one.
- GrillGrates do double duty on one grill. Cooking the chicken directly on the GrillGrate panels while using the same hot grill to toast the croissant halves means everything comes together without switching setups.
- The mix-ins go in raw and grilled at once. Combining charred green onion with crunchy raw peanuts, grapes, and pickles in the same bowl gives the salad contrast in both temperature and texture, not just flavor.
Grilled Chicken Salad Croissant
Tom Jackson
Rated 4.3 stars by 6 users
Category
Main Course
Cuisine
American
Servings
6
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Calories
934
Enjoy the taste of summer early with our Grilled Chicken Salad: a creamy, crunchy and refreshing delight. This salad brings together grilled chicken, peanuts, grapes, avocado and so many more delicious ingredients, all on a lightly-toasted croissant. Try it today for an incredible summer meal!
Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
-
Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3/4 cup red grapes, quartered
- 1/2 cup peanuts, salted, crushed
- 2-3 green onions
- 1/4 cup clover sprouts
-
1/4 cup Jan’s Sweet, Garlic, Dill Pickled, diced
-
4 tsp Kozlik’s Triple Crunch Mustard Seeds
-
4 tsp Colonial Chile Crunch
- 6 croissants
- 3 cups chicken salad
- Arugula
- 3 avocados, sliced
For the Sandwich
Directions
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill to 450ºF, set up for direct grilling with GrillGrate grilling panels installed over the fire box.
- Spray your work surface with cooking oil/duck fat. Place the chicken breast on top. Spray the chicken breasts with oil, as well. Cover with a gallon zip-top bag. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound the thick side of the breasts until it is even in thickness.
- Season the chicken breasts with Cattleman’s Grill Trail Dust All Purpose Seasoning.
- Slice the green onions in half, separating the white/light green parts from the dark green parts. Mince the dark green parts. Take the white/light green parts to the grill and grill until lightly charred and softened. Remove from the grill and cool.
- Spray the GrillGrates with cooking oil/duck fat. Transfer the chicken breasts to the GrillGrates. Grill until nicely browned, then flip and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 155ºF. Remove from the grill.
- Let the chicken cool, then dice into small pieces.
- Slice your croissants in half, sandwich style. Quickly grill the cut sides to toast the croissant.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the grilled chicken, mayonnaise, grapes, peanuts, green onions (raw and grilled), sprouts, Jan’s Sweet, Garlic, Dill Pickled, Kozlik’s Triple Crunch Mustard Seeds and Colonial Chile Crunch. Mix well. Taste and season, as needed.
- To make the grilled chicken salad croissant sandwich, layer the sliced avocado on the bottom with arugula on top, then a good scoop of the grilled chicken salad and the top of the croissant.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why pound the chicken breast to an even thickness before grilling?
Chicken breasts are naturally thicker on one side. Flattening that side under a zip-top bag with a meat mallet means the whole piece cooks at the same rate instead of drying out the thin end while the thick end catches up.
Why grill only part of the green onions?
Charring the white and light-green sections brings out a smoky sweetness, while keeping the dark green tops raw and minced adds a sharper, fresher onion bite. Using both gives the salad more depth than either alone.
What internal temperature should the chicken actually be cooked to?
This recipe as written lists 155°F, but USDA's minimum safe internal temperature for poultry is 165°F. Cook the chicken to 165°F to make sure it's fully safe before dicing it into the salad.
Why toast the croissants on the same grill instead of a separate pan?
Once the chicken comes off, there's plenty of residual heat left on the grill to quickly toast the cut sides of the croissants, so you don't need to fire up anything else.
Can I make the chicken salad ahead of time?
Yes — the chicken, grilled onions, and mix-ins hold well refrigerated. Just wait to slice the avocado and assemble the sandwiches until you're ready to eat, since avocado browns quickly once cut.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
4 out of 5 — you can pan-sear or bake the chicken and toast the croissants under a broiler; the only thing you'd lose indoors is the char on the grilled green onions and the grill marks on the chicken.
Recipe Highlights
Even-thickness pounding: Flattening the thick side of the chicken breast under plastic before seasoning is what keeps the whole piece cooking evenly instead of drying out unevenly on the grill.
Splitting the green onions two ways: Grilling the whites while mincing the raw green tops layers a smoky note and a sharp fresh note into the same bowl of salad.
Dicing the chicken only after it cools: Letting the grilled chicken cool before cutting it into the salad keeps the pieces firm and distinct instead of shredding or absorbing too much mayonnaise while still warm.
Building the sandwich in a specific order: Layering avocado first, then arugula, then the chicken salad keeps the croissant from getting soggy by putting the driest ingredient against the bread.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 1 Sandwich
- per serving
- Calories
- 934
- Fat
- 58 grams
- Saturated Fat
- 17 grams
- Cholesterol
- 185 milligrams
- Sodium
- 856 milligrams
- Carbs
- 50 grams
- Fiber
- 10 grams
- Sugar
- 12 grams
- Protein
- 55 grams
